San Gabriel receives state-mandated staffing report showing improved firefighter vacancies, high police vacancy rate

San Gabriel city staff on Tuesday presented the city’s first public report required by Assembly Bill 2561 showing point-in-time vacancy data for bargaining units and unrepresented positions and outlining recruitment and retention actions taken since Jan. 1, 2025.

The Human Resources and Risk Management director, Edward Macias, told the City Council the Jan. 1 point-in-time report showed the Firefighters Association had 30 authorized full‑time equivalent (FTE) positions with six operational vacancies — a 20% vacancy rate — and that by May 31 the fire unit’s operational vacancies had fallen to one, a 3.3% vacancy rate. Macias said the city received 107 applications for firefighter EMT, tested 26 candidates, referred 13 for hiring consideration and hired six, while paramedic recruit pools were smaller and produced no hires in this cycle.

Macias said police staffing worsened between the two reporting dates. The Police Officers Association (POA) had 39 authorized FTEs on Jan. 1 with five operational vacancies (12.8%); by May 31 the POA showed eight operational vacancies, a 20.5% rate that triggers additional reporting under AB 2561. The…